Day 182 - Driveway Base Layer

The order of operations is to the point where we can FINALLY work on the driveway. This is one area that has been a thorn in our side for far too long. I didn't want to start the driveway gravel until we had the electricity and water run to the clearing. I wasn't too sure about the final placement of the utilities and didn't want to trench through gravel if there was a need to do so.
The dirt part of the driveway has been driven on for 5-6 months now and we can't find any major problem areas with the structure of it. Concrete washout is the material of choice for the base layer. Washout is just what it sounds like; the material washed out of a concrete truck after returning from a pour. I'm not sure if this is primarily from empty trucks that return and get washed out or if it's primarily from trucks returning with material still in the tumbler from people ordering too much material. Regardless, the local consensus here is that it is a good value choice for a gravel driveway base layer. We paid $400 for 50 yards of this material. I was originally quoted $13 per yard. I'm not sure if we got a discount because of the volume we purchased or because we took all they had. Regardless, no complaints from me!
Our driveway is approximately 1300', depending on where you decide it ends in the clearing. Calculations for a 10' wide, 1300' long, and 3" deep material driveway equal 120 yards. Because this is just a base layer that we will be topping, I was hoping to get at least 100 yards to get a decent base along the entire run. By only having 50 yards available, I had to spread it a bit thin.
Shortly after this video, the concrete shop pad and driveway on the gravel were almost at the same time. I didn't get any footage of the gravel going down, but we got 54 yards of #57 limestone spread along the driveway and two 12-yard piles dropped, one near the first driveway yard hydrant and the other at the end of the driveway. I will monitor the driveway closely over this first winter and adjust accordingly in spring. I think we will be good after driving on the gravel for a week now. The goal was to get a good start on the driveway and get it functional without spending much of our initial budget. Some areas exceeded budget, and driveway gravel is the most accessible place to reallocate budget money.
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